Breaking the Shackles of Social Conditioning

BY SOFO ARCHON

What do a hooligan, a kamikaze, and a racist have in common?

They don’t use their brains much. By that, I mean they don’t know how to think—or, more precisely, they don’t know how to think critically. But it’s not just them. In fact, most people aren’t much different when it comes to this.

Sure, we all have our thoughts, and over the years have formed certain opinions. But how many of those opinions are merely beliefs resulting from unconscious social conditioning, and how many of them are based on our own understanding? And, of course, we know a lot of things, but how much of our knowledge comes from personal experience, and how much from parrot-like learning?

From almost the day we are born, we are conditioned not to think for ourselves. Take school, for example—an institution that is supposed to help children develop their intellect, yet often does the opposite.

School confines children to a classroom for roughly eight hours a day, nearly every day, for about twelve years. During this time, they are forced to learn things they may not enjoy, obey authority unquestioningly, accept what they are taught without critique, and forfeit almost all personal freedom—even needing permission to go to the bathroom.

As Pink Floyd famously put it, school conditions children to become “another brick in the wall.”

The official 1982 video clip of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall.

I know I’m generalizing—schools aren’t all the same. But the reality is that in most parts of the world, school is not a place where critical thinking is encouraged; on the contrary, it is often suppressed or simply ignored. Naturally, it atrophies and weakens, much like a muscle that isn’t exercised.

Observe the people around you, and you may begin to see the consequences of our educational system. Many live unconsciously, unaware of why they think and behave the way they do. They accept without question whatever the media presents as truth. They follow religious dogmas without solid evidence to support their beliefs. They wholeheartedly support political leaders and comply with their decisions without the slightest resistance. I could go on giving countless examples, but these will suffice for now.

As a result of our social conditioning, corporations exploit our emotional insecurities to sell us their products, turning us into competitors over who has more. So-called journalists manipulate us with propaganda through the mainstream media, reducing us to mindless puppets. Religious leaders and teachers of all faiths gain power by promising heaven in the afterlife, dividing people into in-groups and out-groups that fight in the name of God. Politicians gain power by promising heaven on Earth, similarly splitting people into opposing groups that fight in the name of ideology.

If we recognize these negative consequences and are truly willing to change our way of living for the benefit of ourselves and the world, we need the courage to break free from herd mentality and start thinking for ourselves—and the sooner we do, the better. Of course, that’s easier said than done, since social conditioning runs deep and influences us in ways we often don’t even recognize. Yet with conscious, persistent effort, it is definitely possible.

If you want to know exactly how, here are some basic, practical steps you can start taking right now.

Question your beliefs, no matter how much you cherish them.

To free yourself from the prison of social conditioning, the first and most crucial step is to question any beliefs you have unconsciously absorbed from your parents, teachers, and culture. Beliefs can impose all kinds of limitations on life, such as irrational fears or the sense that you must live according to what’s right for someone else rather than for yourself.

No matter how strongly you may cherish a belief, ask yourself these questions:

• “Where did this belief come from?”

• “Is there any valid reason for holding it?”

• “Is it limiting me in any way, or is it enhancing the quality of my life?”

Take, for example, religious beliefs. If you consider yourself religious and believe that the dogma of your faith is the only true and correct one—and that those who follow different beliefs are evil and doomed to hell—ask yourself:

• “What is the logical basis for holding these beliefs?”

• “Did I arrive at them through my own understanding, or did I accept them as truth simply because I was indoctrinated as a child?”

• “Do these beliefs serve my happiness, or do they contribute to my suffering?”

These are important questions to ask about any beliefs you hold dearly—whether in religion, philosophy, politics, economics, or any other field of knowledge. By doing so, you begin to decondition yourself from negative social programming, allowing you to grow in understanding, absorb new information, and make wiser choices. In addition, this practice helps you better understand the beliefs of others without judging them from a fixed mindset.

Doubt is the beginning of wisdom.

Remember: Doubting what you think you know is a sign of intelligence, and only those courageous enough to do so can break free from the shackles of social conditioning and walk the path of wisdom.

Rebel against authority and accept responsibility for your life.

For most of us, it has become a habit to let others tell us what to think and how to behave. We don’t think for ourselves—instead, we hand over responsibility for our lives to others. Unsurprisingly, this leaves us intellectually weak and disconnected from control over our own lives.

It seems we allow others to dictate how we live because we don’t want to bear the burden of responsibility ourselves—so we shift it onto them. Taking responsibility for your life can be challenging, because it requires thinking deeply, making important decisions, and facing failure when choices go wrong. To avoid this, many of us let others—politicians, religious leaders, or self-proclaimed saviors—make those decisions for us. Then we blame them for nearly everything that goes wrong in our lives, insisting it’s entirely their fault, without pausing to consider that the responsibility might actually be ours.

Are you brave enough to remove the blindfold of faith?

If you want to escape the matrix of social conditioning and reclaim your freedom, you need to stop letting others control you like a mindless automaton and instead start being responsible for your life. This might be a difficult thing to do, yet it’s the only way to choose your own path in life.

Seek truth, regardless of how arduous that might be.

If you’ve questioned your beliefs, you’ve likely realized that most of them were imposed by society and don’t truly reflect your personal experiences or understanding. While this process greatly helps develop critical thinking skills and break down the walls of social conditioning, it doesn’t always answer the deeper question of whether those beliefs are actually true. To find out, we must seek truth through our own research.

Let’s take drug addiction as an example. Social conditioning has led most of us to believe that drugs themselves cause addiction—a belief we’ve held since early childhood, yet rarely stop to question. If we do some basic research, however, we find that while drugs can play a significant role in addiction, they are not the root cause; rather, drug use is a symptom of addiction. Health experts have identified emotional trauma as the underlying cause of many forms of addiction, whether it involves drugs, pornography, video games, or gambling. If this is new to you, and you want to learn more about the nature of addiction, be sure to read this article.

The problem is that most people don’t like to think for themselves or do their own research. One reason is that it can feel exhausting and not worth their time. Another is that it threatens their worldview. When people cling to beliefs that aren’t grounded in critical thinking or evidence, research might prove them wrong—so many simply avoid seeking the truth, fearing it will shatter their convictions. As a result, they live in ignorance while believing they know, unable to grow wiser and unconsciously spreading half-truths or falsehoods.

If you are a lover of wisdom, you must actively search for the truth, no matter how challenging it may be. You will need to think deeply and educate yourself—reading books, watching documentaries, listening to talks, participating in discussions, or using any other tools that expand your understanding of reality. Most importantly, you must be ready to accept the truth when you encounter it, even if it contradicts long-held beliefs.

The journey to truth can be challenging at times, but it is unquestionably worth taking.
Image credit: Pawel Kuczynski

By questioning your beliefs, rebelling against herd mentality, and thinking for yourself, you can free your mind from the constraints of blind conformity and dogmatic ideology. In doing so, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you, and take true responsibility for your life—without being easily fooled, exploited, or manipulated.

Further reading:

• Escaping the Matrix: 8 Ways to Deprogram Yourself